Download Words: the building blocks of oratory and all other competitive

WORDS:
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ORATORY
AND ALL OTHER COMPETITIVE SPEECH EVENTS
by Charles Ickowicz
. . . Use of American English
should be more than correct; it
should
reveal
a
discriminating
choice of words. . .
NFL Oratory Ballot
“put up with”
“risk” or
“prove”
or
“worried”
or
or
“tolerate”
“jeopardize”
“substantiate”
“apprehensive”
When speaking which word or
phrase would you use? The simpler
word or the more sophisticated
word?
As contest speaker, this dilemma has probably arisen while
you were preparing your speech.
Particularly since your vocabulary
is being judged and is a factor in
winning.
In fact, your vocabulary
will help you win more than your
contests, it will also help you win in
life.
According to the American
Management Association, a strong
vocabulary is the single most important factor in management success. But that is a long way off for
you to think about.
You have a
more immediate concern and that
is winning the contest.
The English language is one of
the richest in the world. It is also
the largest.
Yet many people,
young and old,
feel constrained
from using the terms that they may
want to use because they may feel
that they are not simple enough.
They may feel self-conscious about
using “big words”.
But there must
be some way to use the English language effectively.
As an orator you may have
asked yourself these four questions:
1. Is it better to use simple or
more sophisticated words?
2. If you choose to use higher
level words, how do you avoid expressions that sound pretentious?
3. Do leaders really speak with
a better vocabulary than most
people? And if so, what terms do
they use?
4. Why is a good vocabulary
important?
While conducting research for
my book Word Power: Vocabulary
For Success, I discovered that most
successful leaders do use a more
sophisticated language. They are
considered to be our most effective
and articulate communicators. After all they are in positions that require great skill in influencing and
guiding others. It is this realization
- that leaders speak with enhanced
vocabularies - that could be the key
to resolving the dilemma of which
type of words to use. I believe their
level
of
communication
skills
should set the standard for all educated individuals. Certainly, in oratory, this level of skill will enable
you to state your position very articulately.
1. Is it better to use simple or
enriched words? By now most of
us have heard that popular sentiment, “KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid”.
But there’s is a another line
of thinking that also can be called
“KISS - Keep It Sophisticated,
Smarty”. It agrees that clarity is important but credits the audience
with the intelligence to comprehend a more sophisticated vocabulary.
Simple
The “keep it simple” school argues that only basic language
should be used to communicate an
idea. It almost seems to question
the purpose and value of education
- at least regarding communication.
But does the “keep it simple”
school mean using the simplest
word available to communicate a
thought? If so, our language skills
could very easily deteriorate to a
childlike,
unsophisticated
level.
Instead of using precise words, we
could recycle simple ones. For example, the term “get” has more that
50 meanings in my thesaurus while
the word
“thing” has approximately 25 meanings. Here are just
a few of the ways these words can
be used.
get
Did Theresa get (purchase)
the new CD player or put the money
in the bank for college?
We got to (arrived at) the ski
slope just in time to start the lesson.
Henry got (received) the e-
mail from his brother Jack who is
away in college.
Jasmine got (obtained) the information for the test from the history teacher.
Did Bob get (understand) the
math problem?
thing
The teacher wants to discuss
two things (items) with the class
before we start the project.
Three main things ( issues)
caused the French Revolution.
There are three things (topics)
to discuss in today’s Spanish club
meeting.
By using only very simple
words, our vocabulary will become
imprecise, uninteresting, and very
unsophisticated. In fact, according
to Dr. Hugh Kenner in an article in
Discover magazine, “we make over
50% of our normal talk recycling
only about 100 words”. According
to Dr. Mario Pei, in The Story of Language, the average person uses between 1000 and 1200 workable
words in his lifetime. With a language of over 600,000 words, English affords us a tremendous richness in communicating that should
not be ignored.
Sophisticated
The “keep it sophisticated”
school of thought encourages use
of a more enriched vocabulary. It
views words as tools - tools that
need to be mastered in order to be
articulate.
It suggests that being
articulate is a virtue and of value
in communicating ideas.
If the
purpose of education is to elevate
our skills and capabilities, then after receiving an education we
should grow and change.
At the beginning of this article
I listed terms that some might say
are too complicated.
Review the
following sentences out loud and
see if the idea is complicated by use
of the enhanced words.
My parents seemed apprehensive/ (worried) about my decision
to go skiing in Colorado with
friends.
You will
jeopardize/(risk)
your chance of getting into the college of your choice if you do not
take grades seriously enough in
high school.
The teacher would not tolerate /(put up with) any book reports
which were grammatically incorrect.
In preparing for the debate,
Gail checked her facts carefully in
order to substantiate/ (prove) her
position that the downfall of Communism was due to economics.
It is plain to see that these
higher-level words are not complicated or confusing, nor do they detract from the idea being expressed.
Instead they add richness, nuance
and precision. The real danger with
these higher level words is not in
using them but in over using them.
For example, the following statement might be difficult to comprehend because of its over use of the
more sophisticated terms.
The debating team would not
tolerate
any
unsubstantiated
claims because they were apprehensive that they would jeopardize
their position.
However the same idea could
be communicated more effectively
by using fewer higher-level words:
The debating team would not
tolerate any unproven claims because they were worried that they
would jeopardize their position.
For comparison, this is what
the statement would sound like
without any higher level words:
The debating team would not
put up with any unproven claims
because they were worried that
they would risk their position.
An enhanced vocabulary offers us richness and variety in communicating. My favorite analogy is
to a painter’s palette of colors. If the
choice of colors were limited, the
artist would not be able to create
beautiful paintings.
Analogously,
if we limit ourselves to simple
terms, we would lose the expressiveness, variety and dynamism
that come with more highly developed communication skills.
2. If you choose to use higher
level words, how do you avoid expressions that sound pretentious?
Let’s think back to your English classes. French, you may recall, entered the English language
in 1066 when
William the Conqueror invaded Britain.
For 300
years, French was the official language of England and we now have
both French and Anglo-Saxon syn-
onyms for many expressions.
In fact, today’s English language has more synonyms than any
language in the world. Given the
enormous choice of words, how do
we know which terms to use?
By
looking at the speech patterns of
articulate leaders, we can draw conclusions regarding which words to
use and create a simple system illustrating the least and most desirable terms to use. Let’s take a look
at word origins since they will provide insight into the speech patterns of leaders:
Level 3
extirpate(L) refractory(L)
cogitate(L)
abrogate(L)
Level 2
eradicate(L) obstinate(L)
contemplate(L)
terminate(G)
Level 1
get rid of(OE) end(ME)
stubborn(ME)
think
(L - Latin, G - Greek, ME - Middle
English, OE - Old English)
Level 1 is the level that most
of us use in everyday speech, relying on simple words that are commonly Anglo-Saxon.
Level 2 are
expressions commonly used in the
media and by leaders. Many of
these expressions are derived from
French, Latin and Greek. Level 3
words are unusual terms, nonAnglo-Saxon based, that would only
be found in scholarly journals or
formal documents and tend to
sound pretentious in conversation.
They are the least desirable synonyms for oratory or conversation.
Leaders avoid them and focus on
the enhanced words of Level 2 instead.
3. Do leaders speak with a
better
vocabulary
than
most
people? Through my research, I
found that leaders do indeed use a
more sophisticated vocabulary, not
only in formal settings, but also in
their casual conversations. I gained
three insights from researching
hundreds of interviews covering a
broad range of topics.
My first discovery was that leaders tend to use
words derived from Latin, French
and Greek
rather than simpler
Anglo- Saxon based terms.
These
are the words that leaders are most
comfortable with when speaking
off the cuff - words that communicate thoughts clearly, dynamically,
succinctly. Another discovery was
that leaders do not eliminate simple
expressions from their word bank
but try to balance simple AngloSaxon terms with higher level
words.
My third discovery was
that they use commonly understood
words that are not commonly spoken. These terms are more sophisticated, more authoritative and also
more precise.
4. Why is a good vocabulary
important?
The key
reason for
having
good spoken vocabulary
skills is not to impress others but to
influence them - either in a public
forum, such as, debate or in private
situations. By having a good vocabulary, you are able to express
your ideas more articulately. The
more articulate you are, the more
credible and authoritative you become. By becoming more credible,
your ability to influence others increases.
Obviously,
when
speaking
your credibility is critical.
What
you say is certainly the most important part of the presentation of
your position but how you say it is
also critical. Consider standing at
the podium in an ill-fitting, old suit
when at a tournament.
Will you
feel differently? Do you think that
the audience will perceive you differently? If something as basic as
clothes will
influence your audience, how much more so will the
words that clothe your ideas.
Many educated, capable young
people have the know-how to
achieve success, but may lack the
skills to communicate what they
know effectively. According to the
newly elected Senator from New
Jersey, Senator Robert Torricelli,
“Communication is the key to
progress in our global society, and
those who can articulate their
thoughts and visions will be the
leaders of tomorrow.”
Words are
the building blocks of effective
communication.
Contest speakers
have the opportunity to hone those
critical vocabulary skills that will
enable them to win in oratory and
lead in life.
(Charles Ickowicz is author of
Word Power: Vocabulary For
Success which is available by
calling 1-800-356-9315.)